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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Drive-Thru Happiness: Hat Creek Burger Co.

Every time my daughter goes to Chili’s, she orders the same two things; skillet queso and boneless buffalo chicken wings. It’s comforting for her to know that wherever she goes, be it Denver, Dallas or Detroit, she can go to Chili’s and get the same exact skillet queso and boneless buffalo chicken wings that make her so happy. While I don’t share her fondness for Chili’s cuisine, I’m at least starting to understand where it comes from.

People, like my daughter, like the comfort and predictability of chain restaurants. While trying out all of Austin's best restaurants along this food journey is fun and exciting, comforting it's not. So, I'm starting to hit a wall. Fortunately, I've found one new, local place that offers all the comfort I need with this...

This juicy burger from Hat Creek is no culinary match for Wink’s Caramel Bread Pudding Foie Gras, but I’m telling you, it can be every bit as satisfying.

What makes comfort food comforting is more about what it isn’t than what it is. Sometimes comfort means not waiting for a table, not spending a fortune, and not getting out of the car. A great drive-thru cheeseburger feeds my hunger in a primordial way, like a lioness on the Serengeti, capturing her prey, ripping it to shreds and devouring it before it has a chance to get cold. Where fine dining satisfies my taste buds, there is nothing that feeds my hunger more completely than a big, fat juicy burger from Hat Creek.

Hat Creek is the only burger joint in Austin to offer fresh, never frozen, all natural PGA beef. PGA is naturally cultivated without hormones or antibiotics. You might laugh at the recycled Arby’s sign at the new Hat Creek location on Burnet Road, but if you live nearby, that sign is a welcome beacon for the feining carnivore in need of a fix.